World Bank: Arab donors fail to deliver Gaza pledges

A new report by the World Bank shows that Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and other Arab donors have delivered only a small fraction of what they promised in reconstruction aid to Gaza after Israel’s 2014 war against Hamas.

The World Bank releases its report a day before a gathering of international donor countries in Brussels, sending the meeting a stark message that donations are well behind the schedule set when pledges were made at an international conference in October 2014.

“Actual disbursements fall short of planned disbursements by around &dollar;1.3 billion, and hence, donors are urged to accelerate the disbursement of funds,” the report says. If donor funding continues at the current pace, it added, pledges are expected to be complete by mid-2019, some two years behind schedule.

A source in the Israel Prison Service is accusing a jailed rabbi of “tricking” the courts into granting him leave for Passover, Walla news reports.

Yoshiyahu Pinto is currently serving a one-year sentence for bribing a police officer. Due to health issues, he is serving his sentence in the medical center of Ramle’s Nitzan Prison.

The rabbi is ostensibly leaving jail for his brother’s wedding on the eve of Passover, but the source says the request to attend the ceremony came immediately after the IPS told Pinto that he does not meet the criteria for furlough for the holiday. Prisoners are, however, legally entitled to attend the wedding of an immediate relative.

The wedding, which will take place an hour before the start of the holiday, has been organized by Pinto himself, Walla says.

Jordanian cops accidentally raid Muslim Brotherhood HQ

Jordanian security forces mistakenly raid the headquarters of the kingdom’s largest Muslim Brotherhood group after confusing it with the offices of an outlawed organization, the government says.

Police raid the Islamic Action Front offices after they “mixed up” the IAF headquarters with those of a nearby, unregistered branch of the Islamist group, according to government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani.

The government should “apologize for this action which touched the Islamic Action Front,” IAF spokesman Murad Adaileh says.

Swedish minister resigns over comparing Israel to Nazis

Sweden’s housing minister resigns over comments he made in 2009 comparing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to the experiences of the Jews under Nazi Germany, Reuters reports.

Mehmet Kaplan’s resignation comes days after Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet reports the remarks, made before he entered the center-left government as a representative of junior coalition partner the Green Party.

Eyal Golan cancels appearance at rally for Hebron soldier

Singer Eyal Golan cancels his attendance at a rally in Tel Aviv tomorrow to support the soldier who is charged with manslaughter for shooting dead a disarmed Palestinian attacker in Hebron last month.

“I decided yesterday to go and support the soldier and embrace his family. I never thought to go against the IDF chief of staff, whom I greatly admire. I never wanted to go against the IDF, which is the people’s army,” says Golan in a statement.

“To my regret, a part of the public took this to a place of values ​​and democracy, while all I wanted was to do was sing and embrace, in the name of art and myself as a singer, as a person. Unfortunately, I see that there are those who take my desire into the political realm, as though I am declaring war against the army.

“I have received dozens of calls from people like me, for whom on the one hand the soldier is important, and on the other hand the state and the army values ​​are a guiding light, and as such I have decided to cancel my participation in the rally tomorrow.

“Our democracy, the rule of law and the army are of supreme value to me. I hope with all my heart that the soldier and his family stay strong.”

Hebron soldier’s lawyer: He thought children were approaching

The lawyer for the soldier charged with manslaughter for killing a disarmed Palestinian attacker in Hebron last month tells Jaffa Military Court that the defendant believed children were approaching for a Purim parade when he opened fire.

“There was a large information gap between the soldier and extensively experienced officers who had all the information,” the lawyer says, according to Walla. “He thought that the ‘adloyada’ [Purim parade] would soon be starting and the children of Hebron would enter the arena. He did not have all the information in front of him.”

Syria’s UN envoy: No doubt Israel working with IS

The Syrian ambassador to the United Nations says there is no doubt that Israel is collaborating with the Islamic State group.

Bashar Ja’afari makes the remarks in a letter to the UN Security Council, in which he also criticizes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow yesterday that Israel will never give up the Golan Heights, Walla reports.

Watchdog: Romanian politician said Jews inflated Holocaust death toll

A Romanian watchdog on anti-Semitism says it is worried by the mayoral candidacy of a Bucharest politician after it emerges he claimed local Jews lied for money about the number of their brethren killed in the Holocaust.

Marian Munteanu of the National Liberal Party, Romania’s second largest, made the accusation in a press statement he co-signed in 1994, when he was part of the Christian-nationalist Movement for Romania organization.

The statement says Jewish groups put the number of Romanians killed in the Holocaust at 420,000 to “obtain illicit moneys from Romanian people through disinformation and manipulation of public opinion, with the complicity of treacherous elements who infiltrated the Romanian institutional structures,” according to Evenimentul Zilei, one of Romania’s leading newspapers.

The Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of Holocaust warns that Munteanu “presents a concern” not only because of his nationalist rhetoric and “statements minimizing or denying” the Holocaust, but also for “misrepresenting” reality today, according to the Agerpres news website.

Top IDF officer: We are still investigating terror tunnel

A senior IDF officer says the army is still investigating the recently discovered tunnel dug from Hamas-controlled Gaza into Israel.

“We are still occupied with the tunnel, even though it is no longer in use,” the officer says according to Channel 10 television.”While there has been a breach of sovereignty, there is also a clear success. The goal is to take out all the tunnels.”

The officer adds that the army is still looking into when the tunnel was created.

Report: Egypt foils major attack in Sinai

The Egyptian army thwarted a major attack on its forces in the northern Sinai, close to the border with Gaza, according to the local media.

Two soldiers are said to be injured and three militants killed in the Saturday night attack at a checkpoint near the entrance to the town of Rafah.

A spokesperson for the Egyptian army tells the Daily News Egypt: “The terrorist attack targeting El Masora checkpoint was foiled. Soldiers stationed at the checkpoint killed three militants and injured six.”

A Sinai-based journalist tells the paper that the attack was intended to mirror a similar one in March that targeted a different checkpoint and killed 15 people.

Netanyahu: Israel makes world-class breakthrough in locating tunnels

Netanyahu hails the discovery of the terror tunnel from Gaza into Israel and vows efforts will continue to uncover more.

“In recent days, the State of Israel has achieved a world-class breakthrough in the ability to locate tunnels,” he says. “The government is investing considerable capital in countering the tunnel threat. This is an ongoing effort that will not end overnight. We are investing in this and will continue to do so with determination.

“Israel will respond strongly to any attempt to attack its soldiers and civilians. I am certain that Hamas understands this very well. I would like to tell the residents of the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip: The IDF is working around the clock to ensure your security and daily routine.”

Ya’alon: Rally for Hebron soldier violates IDF values

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon condemns tomorrow’s planned rally to support the soldier who shot and killed a disarmed Palestinian attacker.

“It is troubling; we are not Islamic State,” he says, according to Channel 10. “When we need to kill, we kill; when someone is incapacitated, we arrest. Those who support such [rallies] violate the values of the IDF.”

British FM makes surprise visit to Libya

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond makes a surprise visit to Tripoli in the latest show of foreign support for Libya’s UN-backed unity government.

A statement from the Foreign Office in London says Hammond discussed the priorities of prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj’s Government of National Accord on security, rebuilding the economy and restoring public services.

“He also discussed their plans to tackle the threat of Daesh and countering people trafficking,” it says, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group (IS).

“Britain is at the forefront of the international community’s efforts to stabilize Libya and is committing an extra £10 million to help the Government of National Accord strengthen political institutions, the economy, security, and justice,” the Foreign Office quotes Hammond as saying.

Jordan cancels plan for security cameras on Temple Mount

Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour says Amman is halting its plan to install security cameras on the flashpoint Temple Mount due to a lack of Palestinian agreement, Ynet reports.

Palestinians earlier this month placed notices in the Jerusalem compound warning of plans to smash any security cameras installed at the site, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews and which has been at the epicenter of tensions in recent months.

Germany: Unilateral steps on Golan violate international law

Germany says a unilateral decision by Israel to keep the Golan Heights would breach international law.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman makes the comment in response to a question about Netanyahu’s claim yesterday that Israel will never withdraw from the plateau.

“It’s a basic principle of international law and the UN charter that no state can claim the right to annex another state’s territory just like that,” says German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer.

Israel captured the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War and annexed it in 1981, a move that was almost at once unanimously rejected by the UN Security Council.

Schaefer says Germany isn’t currently demanding the immediate return of the territory due to the security situation in Syria.

Eisenkot: IDF will keep investing in efforts to counter tunnel threat

IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot says the army will continue to invest greatly in efforts to locate and destroy the tunnels dug by Hamas from Gaza into Israel.

“The exposure of the tunnel is a reminder of the threats, but also of our commitment to the security of the residents,” he says, hours after the army announces it recently uncovered a tunnel dug under the border.

Supreme Court upholds jail term for Islamic Movement leader

The Supreme Court rejects a request by the head of the radical Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement Raed Salah to appeal his conviction for inciting violence, but cuts his prison sentence from 11 months to nine.

Jerusalem bomber may be among injured in bus blast

Police are increasingly certain that the blast on a Jerusalem bus is a terror attack, Channel 2 says, and believe that one of the people seriously injured in the blast on a Jerusalem bus may be the bomber.

Police: Bomb went off at back of Jerusalem bus

Police spokeswoman Luba Samri says sappers find that a bomb exploded at the rear of the Jerusalem bus hit by a blast, injuring passengers and causing a massive blaze that spread to another bus and private vehicles.

Samri says the wounded include two people in critical condition.

Police are asking the public to report any unusual incident and say extra security forces are deployed throughout the city.

The security forces are investigating whether a would-be suicide bomber is behind the blast on a Jerusalem bus and whether he is one of the people who is critically hurt in the explosion, Ynet reports.

Tel Aviv mayor: Don’t come to rally for Hebron soldier

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai urges Israelis to boycott a rally in the city tomorrow to support the soldier who is charged with manslaughter for killing a disarmed Palestinian attacker in Hebron last month.

“Don’t come,” Huldai tells Israelis in an interview to Channel 2, praising the singers who have cancelled their participation and urging other performers to do the same.

“The rally harms the most vital parts of Israeli democracy, and we cannot let that happen,” he says.

Hamas: Jerusalem bombing is natural response to Israeli crimes

Hamas praises the attack on a bus in Jerusalem that wounded more than 20 people, but does not claim responsibility.

A statement on the group’s website says that “Hamas welcomes the Jerusalem operation, and considers it a natural reaction to Israeli crimes, especially field executions and the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

Ex-nominee for police chief questioned under caution

Brigadier General (res.) Gal Hirsch is questioned under caution as part of an investigation into a company he owns, which won the tender for mine-clearing in a section of Rishon Lezion beach.

Hirsch was briefly tapped last year by the government as the new head of the Israel Police, but his candidacy ended after it emerged that the FBI and the Israel Police conducted a two-year undercover corruption investigation into businesses linked to him.

Obama, Putin agree to strengthen Syria truce — Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Barack Obama agree during a phone call today to strengthen a Syria ceasefire brokered by their two nations, the Kremlin says.

“The leaders discussed in detail the situation in Syria, confirming in particular their intention to facilitate the strengthening of a Russian-US initiated ceasefire in this country as well as access for humanitarian aid,” says the Kremlin in a statement.

Islamic Jihad: Jerusalem bomb shows intifada continues

Jerusalem bus driver: I knew at once it was a terror attack

The driver of the Jerusalem bus hit in today’s bombing says he was caught up in traffic when he suddenly heard a blast, and knew at once an attack had taken place, Channel 2 reports.

“I reached Moshe Baram Street in Talpiot and stopped in traffic. Suddenly, there was a loud explosion from the back of the bus and I immediately realized it was a terrorist attack,” says Moshe Levy from Shaare Zedek hospital, where he is being treated for light injuries.

“I opened the doors to save people,” he says. “The people fled quickly. I immediately ran to the cars stuck in traffic and told them to call the police because there had been an attack.”

Hebron soldier allowed home for Passover

The IDF soldier charged with manslaughter for shooting dead a disarmed Palestinian attacker in Hebron last month is to be allowed to go home for the first night of Passover, Channel 10 reports.

The judge at Jaffa Military Court rules that the soldier can spend the seder with his family, and rejects a request by the prosecution to keep Sgt. Elor Azaria in custody until the end of legal proceedings against him.

The judge also casts doubt on the strength of the evidence against Azaria.

By signing up, you agree to our
terms
You hereby accept The Times of Israel Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, and you agree to receive the latest news & offers from The Times of Israel and its partners or ad sponsors.